I had planned to read this book for a while, and I was looking forward to it a lot, since the kids' one was way to short and boring even when I was ten years old. So, as you can probably guess my expectations were rather high, too high perhaps, but even so I was not disapointed. George Lucas has proved himself not only an excellent filmmaker, but also a great author as well. This book, while a bit dry at times, illustrates the movie in a spectacular fashion, and breathes new life into it, so that it seems interesting all over again. I read it one day when I was stuck in a hotel room, but this book was so interesting I litterally could not put it down. Every true Star Wars fan should read this, since it completly tells the story with a bunch of added stuff, that truly flesh out the story and that were completly missing from the movie. One thing that surprised me was the occasional small details that were changed. Such as Threepio being described as bronze instead of gold, and Luke being Blue 5 instead of Red 5. Another thing that struck me as odd was the slight differences in characters, Luke and Ben most noticably. Ben is less wise, more mischevious, and at times even funny, a previously unheard of thing! Luke also is slightly different. He seems, well, less innocent, more stupid, and even acts like somewhat of a jerk at times, and is all around more heroic and self centered, and generaly less cute. This was both interesting and annoying, since Luke was always my favorite character and to be honest I liked him better the other way. Leia is also noticably different, she being somewhat less strong, which annoyed me somewhat. Anyway, this was an excellent book, that deserved an honest four stars.

We're all familiar with the story, why read the book? That's what a lot of people ask, and I must say there's really not that many reasons to. Everything presented here is in the film, except for a few exceptions. We meet Luke a little earlier into the story, and he has a talk with his friend, Biggs Darklighter. Other than that, there's not a whole lot here that you can't see in the films.

However, as a book, it is most excellently written. The writing style is easy to get into and understand, and characters are written believably. A must-have for the Star Wars book collecter, a good choice of a library loan for anyone else.

I LOVE this book. I have always been a reader, but it usually takes me a long time. This book was easily finished in 2 days, just about a record. The detail just engulfs the reader. You can see everything. It's about 20 times better than the movie. Even if you are not a Star Wars fan, this book can easily make you one. The only downfall is that the famous "Help Me, Obi-Wan Kenobi" speech by Princess Leia has been altered. Even though, this book is an absolute must for any age. (I know, being only 16.) What else can I say? AMAZING!!!!

i think this book is the best yet. i dont own it, but thanks to my local library i check it out every time. i have 5 younger siblings, and they always want me to tell them a bedtime story.
finally i reread the story 10 times and memorized it. its a big help. i dont have to carry the flashlight into their rooms now.
i reread all of the series and now i mimorized all of them. i them all a huge 5*. i am what people call a starwars nut. i like the part whenever the rebels come in. and like others i like it that this focuses most on hoole. basicly I LOVE THIS BOOK!

I haven't read any of the ones after this, and this is the one when Tash uses the force to help her buddies. Doesn't DV figure out that Tash knows the Force in this one? I can't remember. Good book for people who are fans of Tash or Hoole, the other characters are squeezes in there for a part.

This is truly an excellent Edition to the Galaxy of Fear series. This is amust-have for any Star Wars fans anywhere no matter what their age is.

If you like Star wars you will like this book to be added to all your Star wars things! This is a great book to start with. I think the other books are better though. But you should always start with the first book ( if it's avalble). It still is good though. It's about a girl named Tash, and a boy named Zak. There parents died when Alderan was blown up by the Empire. The Empire does lots of other weird things, but, you'll have to read the book to find those secrets out! I reconmend this highly!

This is a great book, and I see few star wars books that have a girl as the main character. It tells you to trust your instints, and anything is possible. Its got me wanting to read the whole series, which I forsee to be very, very great.

John Whitman did a great job on this book. It kept me interested so much, I read it in about 2 hours. I would recommend this to any Star Wars Fan

A passionately written book. The information is detailed yet to the point and not boring or too scientific. A great book for the cold climate novice gardener or a reference for the master.
The pictures are beautiful and plenty. The layout is clear, logical and well organized. The book's a real keeper. Great job.

I've bought and borrowed numerous books regarding perennials. None has been so complete and well illustrated. Each plant species has varieties listed as well as planting, mulching, pruning, dividing techniques and advice. As an avid perennial gardener, I can't recommend this book highly enough. Kudos to the authors!

This book lets you know which perennials you can buy and grow in cold climates. It is a must for anyone in the Northern Areas of 20 degree's below 0 even in Canada. It shows the pictures of the flowers and where they will grow best for cold weather. It also shows you the best variety to buy and where you can order them, plant them and how to do it. It is a must for cold weather climates.

I don't know why this is, but classic books are often bound into heavy, dark tomes and printed in the tiniest print with almost no space between the lines. Perhaps the publisher imagines these books will not actually be read anymore, but instead are supposed to serve as fillers for the large shelves in aristocratic libraries and behind lawyers' desks.

Well, for those of us who still like to dust off the classics and read them, TOR's edition of the Hunchback of Notre Dame serves nicely. It's bound in a modern style--small, with an intriguing cover, with easy-on-the-eyes print. And, it's complete and unabridged (accept no substitutions on this point, otherwise you're depriving yourself of the grand vision of the artist). Also, TOR's 458-page mass market paperback is only [$]--when was the last time you got so many hours of entertainment for so little?

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a dark, desperate novel, filled with mist and moonlight and echoes in the lonely streets of 15th century Paris past midnight. In the main, it tells the intersecting stories of three lonely characters, each aching in their own way. There's Claude Frollo, archdeacon of Josas, who's spent his whole life cloistered in the tight garb of Catholicism. There's La Esmeralda, an enchantingly beautiful gypsy who's searching for her long lost mother. And, of course, there's Quasimodo, the malformed, hunchbacked figure haunting the shadows of the Cathedral of Notre Dame.

Hugo knows how to tell a story--there is plenty of irony, a few good surprises, and some excellent characterization. He paints the dark places of humanity: people struggling to survive, to find hope in the midst of horror, each clinging in some way to a dream that can never be realized.

One drawback of the book is its pacing, which, at times, slows to a crawl. For example, there is a long chapter on the layout of Paris in the 15th Century, which, if you're not a city planner or fastidious historian, can get pretty long and boring. Even Hugo seems to know it becomes boring, because he recaps so often. Also, Hugo often breaks the fourth wall and directly addresses the reader, which can be distracting and anti-dramatic at times. Thirdly, I would have liked to spend some more time with that loveable wretch, Quasimodo. He has a big part in the end, but not much more. But don't let these minor annoyances stop you from reading a great story.

If you have patience, The Hunchback of Notre Dame will rebuild the gothic Notre Dame of stone in words; if you have imagination, it will acquaint you with the adventures of some extraordinary characters; and if you have a heart, you will shed a tear for Claude Frollo, La Esmeralda, and Quasimodo.

Simply put, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is one of the best novels I have ever read. I loved Victor Hugo's writing style (or the translation thereof), the comprehensiveness of description of both characters and setting (for the most part), and the ideas that Hugo provoked in me as I went through the book.

The novel is about a beautiful, young, virtuous and romantic gypsy (La Esmeralda), a deformed and deaf bellringer of the cathedral of Notre Dame (Quasimodo), and an archdeacon (Frollo) whose obsessive nature creates the tragedy that all three will realize at the end of the novel.

All three characters have the one uniting feature of unrequited love. Esmeralda seeks the love of Phoebus, an officer whose only interest is that of the carnal nature, and sees the gypsy as only another girl to have his way with. Quasimodo and Frollo each seek the love of Esmeralda, who does not return it due to their physical and (best attempt at description) spiritual odiousness, respectively.

Ironically, the hideous Quasimodo and lovely Esmeralda hold the most in common, as Hugo makes the reader aware that both of them are adopted (and even in their infancy, their lives are linked), and that both are social pariahs, Quasimodo due to his appearance, and Esmeralda due to her gypsy heritage, her beauty, a crime attributed to her, and, of all things, a performing goat she trained, the sum of which tags her as a sorceress. In fact, both, due to these characteristics, are linked with the devil, although their actions show a goodness that outweighs that of any other characters in the novel.

Variations on the notion of "love" are examined in the book, There is Esmeralda's romantic love where she imagines the handsome captain Phoebus to be the embodiment of masculine virtue, Phoebus' physical love where the value of a woman is based on her appearance and promiscuity and lasts until he's satisfied his physical urges, Frollo's obsessive love where a person, whose life is spent on monomaniacly focusing on his faith, his studies, and alchemy, finds a beautiful young girl in his sights (his love amounting to a sickness, his resulting actions morbid symptoms), and Quasimodo's love, based on the kind acts of another. This last love is the only one of the three not focused on one's appearance, as Quasimodo does not develop this affection until Esmeralda soothes him while he is tortured for trying to kidnap her at Frollo's (his adoptive father) direction. It is Quasimodo's love and his expression of it in acts of kindness, not to mention saving Esmeralda's life once and trying to do so a second time, that makes him such an endearing character.

This novel also has some incredible descriptive moments, such as the dark streets of 15th century Paris while Frollo wanders in a state of confusion following what he thinks is the death of the woman he loves, and the depiction of Paris at dawn, quaint and placid just before the story's most tragic climax.

Hugo also provides some description of the architecture of the cathedral itself, which I found very interesting, and a description of the layout of Paris in the 15th century, which I found not so interesting, due to my unfamiliarity with the city itself and the history thereof, although a French reader, especially one in the 19th century, would have probably appreciated it. This is the only element of the novel that I did not like, and it is but one chapter.

This story grabbed me, and I was hanging on every word Hugo wrote. I found myself emotionally affected at many points of the story, which is not something that often occurs when I read a novel. I was so impressed with the book that I got Les Miserables after only reading 100 pages of Hunchback. I give this novel 5 stars, and it deserves every single one of them.

Having seen at least two Hollywood versions of this story (we won't even mention the Disney monstrosity!), I eagerly looked forward to reading Victor Hugo's original. As his superior writing unfolded the story, I soon realised that the four movie versions that have been made were conceived by people with very limited scope and understanding!

The story of 15th century life around the edifice of Notre Dame cathedral is brought to life through Hugo's descriptions that allow you to hear the noise of the hustle and bustle of the people and smell the scents that waft about the place. You feel the torturous loneliness of the deformed bellringer, Quasimodo; the pain of the forbidden lust that Claude Frollo has for the beautiful gypsy, Esmeralda; and the despair and terror of Esmeralda as she is accused and sentenced to death for the murder of her lover, Captain Phoebus!

It's a great book...I'll never be able to watch the movies ever again!

Wonderfully crafted storytelling. This novel tells the story of two principle characters, Ampris and Elrabin - Ampris being the real focus. Both characters are members of subjugated species within the Viis empire. Ampris' early years are pampered, while Elrabin's are impoverished. Yet fate brings them together. However, they are not united till the very end.

The great strength of this book is the character development. All of the characters' thoughts and actions develop naturally from their circumstances and backgrounds. Deborah Chester has done a wonderful job of creating three dimensional, and believable, characters. Additionally, when a crisis develops, the characters' responses, and the story line, remain believable. Ms. Chester never relied on tricks or unlikely interventions to rescue a character in distress.

The main flaw of the book is that it ends with a cliffhanger. The story is no where near completing the story line. I grant that given Ms. Chester's richly detailed telling, 344 pages are just not enough to get us there - but I want resolution. I've read that book two in not due to be published until October - I can't wait. To her credit, Ms. Chester does provide some resolution. We see Ampris' character develop, through experience, the psychology that will bring her to greatness and we see how she and Elrabin will be thrust together. But, I don't want to wait nine months to find out what happens next.

All in all, I recommend Alien Chronicles The Golden One without reservation.

This is the best way to start a trilogy, but then again, the companies Gorge Lucas ( unsure of spelling ) know all about trilogies. Star Wars... but this one is different. This is a story about a once beautiful society, the Viis, who are now degrading. The story is from the two main characters, Ampris and Elrabin. Although the speices in this book are similar to creatures of earth, very unlike starwars, they are well described and explored. This is a story that will leave you waiting for the other two books, as it did to me... I have asked quite a few times at the local bookstore, but it isn't out yet. I can't wait till it is. Like one of the other reviewers, i wish i wouldn't have found this book till after the trilogy was out, thatway i could read them all as one big story. This is the best book i have read in a long time.

Overall, I can't find a single thing I didn't like about this book, though I did spend a lot of time wondering when the two storylines would connect....

The author didn't rely on fancy spaceships or technology to further her story; the development of the characters and their changing views of life were the main driving force and it suited the story perfectly. A near perfect blend of fantasy and inner character struggles. Ampris's story was believable and tragic, and sets the stage perfectly for the next novel, which so far is just as good. This does not work as a stand-alone book, but it wasn't meant to and I'd be pretty ticked if it was a stand-alone because I would want more. :)

I've been looking for a good non-Star Wars fantasy book for some time, and I definitely found it in this book. It took me forever to pick it up because I was both absorbed in Star Wars and fearful the series would suck and be a waste of money. I was wrong. I will definitely be disappointed once I finish reading this story, because I'll hate to see it end.

WOW!! I am very impressed in how great this book was. I have never read a book that was a movie FIRST, and I must say, my expectations were NOT high. I was proven wrong! this book follows the life of a young man, and his two friends living in a small town called Cradle Bay. Though the town may seen "nice", the main character quickly learns otherwise. Beneath the town's placid surface, an evil secret lies. The book does loose points for originality(it WAS a movie first), and believability(the plot can be hard to believe at times). Overall however, this book shines as an expert suspense novel.

This is a really great book. I couldn't put it down until I was finished. It was really good, and is a must read for anyone who saw the movie or likes science fiction.

i read this book 4 times,and i loved it.it has all the scenes that were deleted in the movie.best book i ever read.

If you love The Empire Strikes Back, you will like this book. It is very well written, with different and expanded dialogue between characters. This is especially evident from the parts where Luke is learning different aspects of the Force from Yoda. There were scenes of Luke's training that were filmed and not included in the final cut, so reading this book, you'll be able to find out what we didn't see. Overall, though, this book is closest to the actual movie than the books for A New Hope and Return of the Jedi. Not that that is bad. I and many, many others consider Empire to be the best Star Wars film ever made. (I also hope the upcoming Episode II is more like Empire, with its dark tone.)

This book is just as exciting as the movie and is a must-read for fans. For those who are curious about this, buy Star Wars: A New Hope first, or you won't understand a lot about what is happening.

To say the least, this book was great. I didn't think it was as good as the novelization for Return of the Jedi, but still fairly descent. FAR better than the kids' novelization, which I was bored with very quickly. This book fleshed out the story of The Empire Strikes Back, while adding plenty of stuff that wasn't in the movie, and generaly making it a more endearing story. Even so, some of the scenes could have been better written, and it often felt rushed. Now that I've read this though, I wonder why I ever wasted my time with the fifty-three page kids' version. There is nothing in this book I could not have read and comprehended at ten years old, and I probably would have enjoyed it more even then. I wouldn't say that this as essential to all Star Wars fans as the novelizations for A New Hope and Return of the Jedi, but I would recommend it anyway, since it does shed new light on things.

Being that the Empire Strikes Back is my favourite of the Star Wars movies, I just had to read this book. It won't disappoint Star Wars fans, with all of the energy of the movie. I liked how it wasn't a complete adaption of the movie, with different things taking place on Dagobah. I would recommend this book to any science-fiction or fantasy fan.

This book is a novelization of the film The Mummy Returns, which is the sequel to The Mummy. It is set in 1933, ten years after the first movie. Rick O'Connell and Evelyn Carnahan are now married and have an eight-year-old son named Alex. While in Egypt exploring the ruins of an ancient temple, Rick and Evy find the Bracelet of Anubis. They bring it back home to London. Even though he knows it will anger his parents, Alex plays with the bracelet and accidentally sets off a chain reaction that could lead to the end of the world. When Alex is kidnapped, Rick and Evy must race against time to save their son and prevent the end of the world. I loved the movie The Mummy, and after reading this book I am even more excited about seeing the upcoming sequel, coming to theaters in May.

I was so excited to see this book come out the other day, since I so eagerly anticipate the films release. I am an avid fan of the first film (my favorite movie), and Max Allan Collins' book. So I was thrilled to hear he would handle the novela1ation of the sequel. I obviously haven't seen the film yet, so I am unable to make a comparison. But from reading the book, I can say the film is going to be the wildest ride! It is the most epic work, and Collins' deft handling of the humour and human relationships is overshadowed only by his ability to craft rollercoaster chills and blockbuster thrills! His handling of bus chase sequence is a standout among many, and his description of the Scorpion King (The Rock in the film) makes him out to be the ultimate eight-legged terror! I was unable to pu the book down until I was finished, which was only about four hours. The author is so good at hooking his audience into the story (just as writer/director Stephen Sommers). I highly recommend The Mummy Returns, it's 288 pages of pure adventure!

I've always been a huge book-fan; and let's face it, if you fall in love with a movie while it's still in theaters, you're going to go fairly crazy waiting for it to be released on video once it *leaves* the theaters so that you can finally see it again (only 24 more days until "The Mummy Returns" will FINALLY be available to own and watch again and again)----so anytime I fall in love with a movie, one of my first steps is to go racing out to get the novelization.

And, to be honest, most of them really disappoint me. "Galaxy Quest" was a simplistic version of the script put into the past tense, as near as I can tell; "X-men" failed to impress me as anything special. "Dungeons & Dragons" was descriptive, but it treated the characters _so_ vastly differently than the movie that it hardly seemed to be telling the same story.

So was I pleasantly surprised by the excellence of the novel of "The Mummy Returns". I absolutely love it. It is descriptive, action-packed, humorous, and fills in some gaps and scenes that the movie either cut or didn't bother with; it filled us in on some loopholes (ie, that mysterious train track in the middle of the desert wasn't far off the base at all). I didn't find it repetitive in the least, nor did I think the character portrayals were off, either. I think it was simply a matter of how Collins interpreted the characters (because, let's face it, they come off differently to everyone); I think he saw O'Connell as a bit more rugged than others do. But I didn't find his portrayal out of sync in the least. That bit of cynicism that Rick has was still there, off-balanced by his good humor. Evy was quite different from how she was in the first one----but the *movie* makes her quite different to begin with! The characters have changed in ten years (what people don't?), and the movie reflects that.

Attention is given to all the characters (I especially like hearing about my two favorites, Jonathan and Ardeth Bay), and the book is over-all well written. If you love "The Mummy Returns" as much as I do, I highly recommend this book. It's not a flaky read----it's a *quick* read if you want it to be, but not a flaky one. This book is actually trying to say something about friendship and the strength of love----if you give it a chance and keep your eyes open, it might actually touch you. Give it a whirl. You won't regret it.

When NPR's audio adaptation of the first Star Wars film hit the airwaves two decades ago, it was as big a landmark in the history of the Star Wars "universe" as any of the subsequent movies. By stripping the story down to the essentials of character, it proved that the appeal of Star Wars is not merely visual flash, but something more enduring, characters you care about, villains you love to hate and (that oldest of rivalries) good against evil. The writing was excellent and the cast equally good, including as it did Mark Hamill and Anthony Daniels as Luke and C3P0 respectively. When NPR produced a radio version of The Empire Strikes Back a few years later, Billy Dee Williams came on board to recreate the role of Lando Calrissian and the producers' winning streak continued.

It would be over a decade before the production team got the chance to complete the trilogy with Return of the Jedi. Sadly, just as Return of the Jedi was the weakest of the original movie trilogy, it is also the weakest of the three radio versions. That is not to say it isn't enjoyable, because it is. Rather it can't quite match the exceptional standards set by the previous two series.

Part of the problem is the casting. Although Anthony Daniels returned to play C3PO, Mark Hamill does not reprise the role of Luke Skywalker. Unfortunately the actor who took the role, Joshua Fardon, does not convey the increased maturity of the character in this part of the story. Fardon's performance has a quality of over-eagerness that seems more suited to the naive farmboy that Luke was when we first encountered him rather than the fully trained Jedi-to-be he is here. Good as the other performances are, especially Brock Peters as Darth Vader and Ann Sachs as Leia, this misguided interpretation of Luke leaves a large hole in the story.

Part of that hole can also be attributed to the writing. Like the previous adapatations, Return of the Jedi was scripted by the late Brian Daley. Daley did a good job of translating what was perhaps the most visual of the three original Star Wars films into the audio medium, but he doesn't open up the story the way the previous two series did. Whereas the radio versions of Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back took the time to show us more about the characters, Return of the Jedi is, for the most part, just what we saw on the movie screen with a handful of extra scenes thrown into the mix.

Those criticisms aside, anyone who is a fan of radio drama in general or Star Wars specifically will enjoy these programs. In the final analysis the producers understood the ways in which sound alone can fire the imagination. Using that knowledge, they have crafted yet another fine way to enjoy the magical world that George Lucas has given us.

Thanks to the many requests of Star Wars fans and radio enthusiasts alike, the team that brought us the radio adaptations of A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, reunited to conclude the original saga. Made exclusively by Highbridge, Return Of The Jedi, once again uses the film's score by John Williams and sound effects by Ben Burtt, to make for a top notch production. By using the actual soundtrack from the film, it gives the audio production crediability, as opposed to being made without it.

Once again, directed by John Madden, Jedi reunites most of the actors from the previous adaptions, with a couple of notable exceptions. Mark Hamill, who reprised his role as Luke Skywalker, for the first 2 productions, is replaced by Joshua Fardon. While, Billy Dee Williams, as rogue Lando Calrissian, is replaced by Arye Gross. As hard as these gentlemen try, because of the original actors previous involvment with the other two radio dramas, its difficult to imagine anyone else in those parts. Fardon's portrayal lacks the maturity of Hamill's character in the film version, Gross comes off, not quite as smooth, in playing Lando. The rest of the main radio cast, from the other two adaptations is thankfully intact. Actors Anthony Daniels, once again as C-3PO, (who has appeard in all 3 radio dramas as well as all of the films in the series) Brock Peters as Vader, Perry King, as Han Solo, Anne Sachs as Princess Leia, all complete their character arcs in the seies with style. Actor Edward Asner as the gangster Jabba The Hutt and John Lithgow as Master Yoda, (as he did in the Empire radio drama) use vocal talent, like no others, to bring these 2 unique characters to life.

Sci-fi author, Brian Daley, once again. wrote the radioplay for Jedi. As before, there are a few additional "scenes" presented, not in the film version. The end result is very good, but thanks to its shorter length, and the casting changes, I mentioned, Jedi doesn't seem quite as epic, as the other radio dramas in the series. Sadly, Daley passed away soon after the dialogue was recorded, and the production is dedicated to his memory. His script is very faithful to the film and the added scenes remain true to the characters and story.

If you own the other two radio dramas in the series, Jedi is a must have, minor problems and all. The story has six episodes, presented on three compact discs with a total running time of nearly 3 hours. Recommended

Return of the Jedi has always been my favorite Star Wars movie, both because I like how all the characters matured, (especially Luke) and because it finally delt face to face with the dark side, possibly the best force of evil ever thought of in the realms of fiction. This book exheeded not only my expectations for the book itself (which were very high) but even surpassed the movie in some ways. The author has a deep, highly emotional writing syle which apealed to me greatly, and was so profound that all through the book I truly felt as if was there, a part of the story. Every Star Wars fan should read this at some point, especially those who didn't like Return of the Jedi because they thought it was weaker than the others. I could almost garantee this book would change their minds. Also, the author did a tremendous job on the characters. Just they way they were presented made me truly feel for them, even characters who were previously not my favorites. At times this book had me sitting on the edge of my seat actually wondering if maybe this time it would turn out differently, and the part where Anakin Skywalker dies almost had me in tears. Anyway, I don't think think this book belongs in any particular age range, though probably some of it (in fact a lot of it) would most likely go over the heads of people younger then twelve or so.